Lightship Overfalls
Anchor Bay 122
Lewes Delaware

In total, the United States Lighthouse Service built 179 lightships between 1820 and 1952. The last, Overfalls (LV-118), was commissioned in 1938 and had a distinguished history of service.

LV-118, also known as WAL-539, was built in East Boothbay, Maine at a cost of $223,900 by Rice Brothers Shipyard. Its length measures 114’9” with a beam of 26’, a draft of 13’4” and displaces 412 tons of water. The illuminating apparatus is a duplex 375mm electric lens lantern, each rated 15,000-candle power. The fog signal, dual air diaphones with the ability to switch to a single horn, was complete with a hand-operated bell.

This lightship had three station assignments:

Lightship Cornfield CT 1938-1957
   Stationed southerly from Old Saybrook off Cornfield Point and the mouth of the Connecticut River and 3.3 miles from Lynde Point Lighthouse. Moored south of the center of the Long Sand Shoal as a reference to ships passing through Long Island Sound.

Lightship Cross Rip MA 1958-1962
   Westerly off Cross Rip Shoal, an important waypoint during the transit of Nantucket Sound, the channel flanked by Cross Rip Shoal to the south and Horseshoe Shoal to the north. Moored 7.4 miles from Cape Poge Lighthouse at Martha’s Vineyard.

Lightship Boston MA 1962-1972
   Serving as a reference mark for Boston Harbor, moored in 84’ of water, 6.25 miles east southeast of Boston Harbor Light.

Decommissioned on November 7, 1972, the vessel was donated to the Lewes, DE Historical Society a year later by the United States Coast Guard. It was marked “Overfalls” despite the fact it never actually served there. The lightship is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is in the process of being restored by volunteers.